Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Again, MP Idlout, I have spent a significant amount of time with our elders and medicine people, learning our own medicines and traditional medicine practice alongside my western medical journey. During medical school breaks, I would go home and spend the summers with elders. Dur

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you so much for that opportunity. If I think of my own family's experience in interfacing with not only the Canadian health system but with NIHB, there is a tremendous number of years of loss of life. Again, when I reflect on what our relationship is supposed to be as a tr

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The people in NIHB who are trained to answer the phone are non-medical professionals. Sometimes they do hire medical professionals, as I mentioned, such as the national pharmacist, and there are regulated health professionals who are a part of that program, but largely it's just

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think one of the issues that we routinely see as indigenous physicians who work in the community—there are very few of us who do that—is that we are left out of the decision-making process, and we're actually not asked about our routine experiences that we have as we interface

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I know that Dr. Adams mentioned the First Nations Health Authority, which is constantly referred to as the example across the country of what should be done. I know that, in the province of Alberta, for example, which has Treaty 6, 7 and 8, some nations within Treaty 8, like th

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm sorry, but can you just repeat your question?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. If you look at Onion Lake Cree Nation, they're looking at having treaty-based funding given directly to the nation to administer and look after its own health agreements and look after the priorities of their own nation in terms of health. As we know, if we look at the bur

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you so much for your question, MP Idlout. This is all a very long answer. When we look at the state of indigenous people's health in this country, it's directly proportional to the systemic dismantling that has occurred through federal policies and laws. Our people had o

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  One, it's important, when we look at the provision of medical care and medicine, that we follow medical practices that are keeping up with the current times. If we look at the processes that exist within the NIHB system, there are flow charts of multiple steps that patients have

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's a complex question with complex solutions. I used to work in a first nations and Inuit health branch as a university student, so sometimes I walked by the NIHB employees and staff and had a listen to the conversations that they were having with our people. Some of them were

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  [Witness spoke in Cree] [English] I'm from the Saddle Lake Cree Nation and am a descendant of signatories of Treaty No. 6. I'm one of the few indigenous physicians who grew up with their people and who work with their own people. Presently I work on Kinokamasihk. I am testifyi